Papers by maurizio ferrera
Europa Union Verlag eBooks, 1990
Stato e mercato, 2018
italianoIntroduzione. - Razionalita e razionalizzazione nella teoria di Weber. - Integrazione eur... more italianoIntroduzione. - Razionalita e razionalizzazione nella teoria di Weber. - Integrazione europea: razionalizzazione o crisi di razionalita? - Econocrazia e irresponsabilita organizzata. - Conclusione. EnglishDuring thc twentieth century, the Liberal nation-state turned into the mass democratic Welfare state, which then bccame a Member state of the emerging European Union. To what extent is Weber's state theory - which has been so influential within political studies - still pertinent for analyzing these two momentous transformations? This article proposes a neo-Weberian reinterpretation of the democratic welfare state as a novel form of political domination, characterized by a distinctive political logic and legitimation dynamics. It then analyzes the impact of EU membership on such characteristics, highlighting the supremacy of the market logic and discussing the obstacles for the emergence of a specifically political EU «reason».
Oxford University Press eBooks, Nov 1, 2015
In Southern Europe, welfare state building followed a distinct path, characterized by ‘weak Fordi... more In Southern Europe, welfare state building followed a distinct path, characterized by ‘weak Fordism’ in labour markets, a dualistic social insurance, and a faulty and fragmented safety net. The (extended) family thus played a key role as welfare and income provider for its members, penalizing women’s autonomy and employment opportunities. The 1990s and 2000s witnessed substantial efforts to modernize both labour markets and social protection schemes, by recalibrating their coverage both across risks and social groups. However, the economic crisis of the 2010s halted such recalibration and the gap with Europe’s more developed welfare states has again started to widen, especially in Italy and Greece.
Stato e mercato, 2007
Abstract For the welfare state the last thirty years have witnessed a turbulent transition from t... more Abstract For the welfare state the last thirty years have witnessed a turbulent transition from the" Golden Age" of expansion to a" Silver Age" of permanent austerity. This shift has been the result of external pressures (essentially: globalization and European integration) and ...
Journal of European Public Policy, Jan 24, 2023
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 24, 2017
Many people believe that the EU lacks solidarity and needs a social dimension. This debate is not... more Many people believe that the EU lacks solidarity and needs a social dimension. This debate is not new but, until recently, the notion of a ‘social Europe’ remained vague and elusive. What is now required is a coherent conception of the reasons behind and the agenda for a European Social Union. This book offers the first in-depth examination of the rationale and feasibility of such a Social Union. It explores how we can justify, define and demarcate an appropriate notion of European solidarity and examines legal and political barriers. In short, rather than merely deploring the lack of a social dimension to the EU, it provides new perspectives and answers to questions of ‘why’, ‘what’, and ‘how’. A cast of outstanding scholars and practitioners reflect on the obstacles and solutions, incorporating economic, social, philosophical, legal and political perspectives. on this title
Stato e mercato, 2013
Il neoliberismo è stato una delle correnti di pensiero predominanti nel discorso pubblico che ha ... more Il neoliberismo è stato una delle correnti di pensiero predominanti nel discorso pubblico che ha accompagnato la trasformazione del welfare in Europa durante gli ultimi tre decenni. L'evoluzione di questa corrente, e dunque la sua visibilità e il suo impatto, non hanno avuto un corso lineare ma piuttosto quello di una parabola, con una fase d'ascesa negli anni Ottanta, una d'appiattimento intorno alla metà degli anni Novanta e una di discesa negli anni Duemila. L'ultimo decennio è stato infatti caratterizzato dalla ricomparsa di altre tradizioni ideologiche, che sono andate assumendo crescente importanza nell'ondata di riforme sociali introdotte nei vari paesi. In questo saggio mi ripropongo di ricostruire questo processo sul piano «ideativo» e «discorsivo» -quello che riguarda gli assunti cognitivi, gli orientamenti normativi, i modi di pensare il welfare e di comunicare questo pensiero -limitandomi a poche osservazioni sul piano del concreto cambiamento istituzionale. Procederò come segue. Nella seconda sezione illustrerò la sfida lanciata al welfare state dall'ideologia neoliberista, soffermandomi in particolare sulla fase ascendente. La terza sezione conterrà un interludio analitico sull'ideologia come concetto e su come analizzarne adattamenti e trasformazioni. Nelle quattro sezioni successive descriverò e discuterò l'ascesa di un nuovo e articolato approccio ideologico ai temi del welfare che chiamerò neowelfarismo liberale. Le conclusioni tireranno le fila del discorso e tratteggeranno qualche prospettiva per il futuro. Prima di iniziare, una precisazione analitico-terminologica. La letteratura in inglese sui temi di questo saggio ha sempre MAURIZIO FERRERA
Stato e mercato, 2018
During the twentieth century, the Liberal nation-state turned into the mass democratic Welfare st... more During the twentieth century, the Liberal nation-state turned into the mass democratic Welfare state, which then became a Member state of the emerging European Union. To what extent is Weber's state theory - which has been so influential within political studies - still pertinent for analyzing these two momentous transformations? This article proposes a neo-Weberian reinterpretation of the democratic welfare state as a novel form of political domination, characterized by a distinctive political logic and legitimation dynamics. It then analyzes the impact of EU membership on such characteristics, highlighting the supremacy of of the market logic and discussing the obstacles for the emergence of a specifically political EU .reason..
Quaderni costituzionali, Sep 1, 2018
The article starts from noting that the social deficit of the European Union has aggravated durin... more The article starts from noting that the social deficit of the European Union has aggravated during the recent economic crisis, despite the ambitious social objectives included in the Lisbon Treaty. The balance between economic integration and the social dimension that EU Law and the case law of the CJEU have pursued during the years has been destabilized, generating new political and social conflicts. Faced with these alarming tendencies, scholars have recently put forward some interesting proposals, in particular the proposal for a European Social Union (ESU). For its proponents, this Union would not be a fully federal welfare State, but rather a closer union between national welfare systems better capable to sustain solidarity within each nation State while promoting new forms of transnational solidarity. The core of the essay illustrates this proposal. It clarifies the proposed core mission of the ESU as well as its internal organization. In particular, it discusses the role that the European Pillar of Social Rights and EU citizenship could play in it. Reflections are devoted also to the thorny question of how to strengthen pan-European solidarity. It concludes by outlining possible future scenarios.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Oct 4, 2012
Ragion pratica, Dec 1, 2016
The article starts with a general discussion of how political science treats the question of «rig... more The article starts with a general discussion of how political science treats the question of «rights». In line with classical democratic theory (from max Weber and Schumpeter to Sartori and Dahl), the author argues that rights must be seen as «guaranteed powers». Special attention is paid to the approach of the Pavia School (Leoni, Albertini and in particular Mario Stoppino), which emphasizes the key role of rights in stabilizing and generalizing compliance within bounded fields of interaction. The main part of the article is devoted to a discussion of social entitlements qua a sub-type of rights. The guaranteed provision of transfers and services is crucial for equalizing opportunities and stabilizing life chances. In contemporary democracies, however, entitlements have become a key currency of electoral exchanges, often originating perverse effects in terms of fiscal sustainability and distributive fairness.
IMISCOE research series, Sep 13, 2018
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 29, 2013
Introduction What has been the influence of the neo-liberal ideology on welfare-state transformat... more Introduction What has been the influence of the neo-liberal ideology on welfare-state transformations since the 1980s? How resilient is such ideology and what is its influence today - that is, in the early 2010s? In the context of this book's themes, we would expect to find in this policy area a high degree of influence and resilience. After all, neo-liberalism emerged as an attack on Big Government, with a view to rescuing individual freedom from the torments of taxation, bureaucracy, and regulation (including in the social realm). This chapter recognizes the high relevance (and not only rhetorical) of neo-liberalism for welfare-state developments since the 1980s - but with two decisive qualifications. The first has to do with meanings: gauging neo-liberal resilience requires a prior clarification of what is connoted by the term \u2018neo-liberalism\u2019. The second qualification has to do with timing: I argue that the influence of neo-liberalism on the welfare state has followed a broad parabola, which reached its peak in the early 1990s but started to decline thereafter in the wake of ideological changes and discursive reorientations. I start with the meaning attributed to the term \u2018neo-liberalism\u2019 and, more precisely, to both the noun (liberal) and the prefix (neo). Unfortunately, the English language conflates in the noun three connotations that Italian (and Italy's political-theory tradition) separates by using different nouns. The Italian language, in fact, distinguishes among liberalesimo, liberalismo, and liberismo. The first term has the widest connotation: It refers to the entire, complex, and diverse thought tradition that began with the philosophical contractualism of John Locke and with the doctrines about the constitutional protection of individual freedoms. Liberalesimo thus embraces the entire range of offspring that \u2018germinated\u2019 from the Lockean core: its outer perimeter ends where authoritarianism and collectivism begin and the ideas of negative freedom, its constitutional protection, and its lexicographic primacy are rejected
Rivista Italiana di scienza politica, Dec 1, 1985
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